Monday, Aug 10, 2009

Book Review: The Embers by Hyatt Bass

Author: Hyatt Bass

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

ISBN #:   978-0-8050-8994-2

Type:  Fiction

Pages: 304 Hardback

Published:  June 23, 2009

Website:  hyattbass.com/

Purchase:  $16.50 (HERE) 

The Story

Emily Asher is just beginning her new life.  With a wonderful fiance and blossoming career, all looks to be promising in her future.  When she visits the site of her childhood summer home in the Berkshires with her fiance, she is convinced that it is the perfect location for their wedding… despite the fact that the house that once stood there is now gone. As she tours the site, she feels the presence of her brother who has passed away.  As she grieves for him, her mother and her husband show up at the property. Emily’s mother doesn’t lend herself to be a positive, supportive presence in her life.   And, so it begins that Emily’s ties to her family’s past become to surface as more than just her history, but rather a hindrance in her ability to move forward from a place of happiness in her life.

One of Emily’s deepest hurts is tied to her father, Joe, a famous actor and playwright.  As she tries to work through her issues with him, she is confronted with a man plagued by his divorce from her mother and his guilt over his son’s untimely death.   They have tremendous difficulty trying to find a common space between them where forgiveness can wash over them and create the opportunity for reconciliation between father and daughter.      

The Review

After reading Julie’s review of this marvelous book, I couldn’t wait to read it.  What I discovered is that I absolutely share Julie’s sentiments about this novel.  It is so expertly written, concise and descriptive that it’s hard to believe that this is Hyatt Bass’ debut novel.  Although this is Emily’s story, this is also Joe’s story.  Bass does a superb job of bringing Joe to life in the minds of this story’s readers.  She created such a real, human, and flawed character in Joe.  I grew to hold such a soft spot in my heart for him, despite some of his poor decisions.  I wanted to see him healed and reconnected to his family.  This is a section in the novel about his relationship with a girl that he had befriended and held interesting conversations with, all within the very present fact that his daughter was absent in his life:

“He shut off the machine.  He had only a few short days here, and he felt he should be taking advantage of every second.  For the last several years, he had been consumed by a desire to create and equally consumed by his inability to do so.  But today, at the entrance of Ingrid, something had changed.  He had forgotten how wonderfully innocent and unguarded young people could be.  He’d tried long ago of writing about cynical adults who deceived and betrayed, and ultimately broke one another.  Instead of writing about the darker side of humanity, why not record a series of of conversations between himself and this touchingly amusing teenage girl?  The fact that Ingrid reminded him so strongly of his own daughter at that same age had initially steered him away from her as a subject, but he now realized that there was something deeply inspiring for him here.  His plays tended toward the self-referential anyway.  He had always mined his own life for characters, story lines, and even dialogue, which he often reproduced verbatim.  This time, he thought, why not make the writer himself a character in the work and explore the process of the play’s own creation?  There was something fascinating to him about the idea of a man’s urge to give birth, in his own way, to another human – something that cut right to the core of what he was or wasn’t and what he could or could not do.”

Discovering what really happened to Emily’s brother, Joe’s son, is a heartbreaking journey of how simple human mistakes alter the entire course of a lifetime… how some things just can’t be undone… and, about how love is so completely fragile.  The journey that Bass takes her readers on in this novel is one not soon to be forgotten.  It resonates with you as you ponder your own relationships with your parents.  The ending of this book brings a hope for a future for this family that wraps up this family saga for me just perfectly!

Sharing In Success

From Hyatt Bass’ website, you will see that she is giving back in her success of this book:

“I serve on the Board of Directors of The New York Women’s Foundation (www.nywf.org), and my work with the Foundation was an integral part of writing The Embers. The women I have met and partnered with through the Foundation — including staff, board members, volunteers, and our outstanding grantees — have given me personal inspiration, a sense of community, and a grounding that serves as a much-needed balance to my solitary life as a writer and my chaotic life as a mom. For this, and so much more, I want The New York Women’s Foundation — and other funds like it who are carrying out this incredibly important work — to share in the rewards of The Embers’ sales.

A portion of the book’s proceeds will go to women’s funds throughout the country working to achieve sustainable economic security and an equal and just future.”

The Rating

On Sher’s “Out of Ten Scale,” I am giving The Embers a rating of 9.5 out of 10.  I just felt very connected to the characters within this remarkable novel.  It was aching and yet beautiful at the same time.  It frustrated me and yet made me realize how stubborn and selfish I can be.  This was, simply, an unforgettable story.

Giving Thanks

I wanted to thank Julie of Booking Mama for her wonderful review on this novel which led me to find my way to Gretchen at Tandem Literary who was gracious enough to send me a copy.  Thank you so much to the both of you!  I’m very grateful that I had the opportunity to review such a fine novel.

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